< g*-f 


. .•  ' ■ <■  . • "V  V - S ■ ' 

•-  •'  ■>  v.  v 

' 


■ 

. ; • ' ' ' • '•  \ ' . ' * ; 


LIBERIA: 

Its  Origin,  Rise,  Progress  and  Results. 


AN  ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


^/olontzathm 


January  20th,  1880, 


Hon.  JOHN  H.  B.  LATROBE. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


WASHINGTON  CITY  : 

Colonization  Building,  450  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 
1880. 


ADDRESS. 


Members  of  the  American  Colonization  Society, 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — 

One  who  has  spoken  as  often  as  I have  done  on  the  subject  of  Afri- 
can Colonization  can  hardly  hope  to  say  anything  that  he  has  not 
said  before.  My  audiences,  however,  have  not  always  been  the  same, 
and  in  the  belief  that  some  of  my  present  hearers  now  listen  to  me  for 
the  first  time,  I propose  to  give  a brief  account  of  the  origin  and  forma- 
tion of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  its  condition  now  and  the 
aspect  generally  of  the  cause  to  which,  for  more  than  half  a century,  it 
has  been  devoted.  I wish  for  your  sakes  that  there  was  more  of  ro- 
mance in  what  I am  about  to  state.  Still,  even  in  this  aspect,  African 
Colonization  and  its  offspring,  Liberia,  are  not  wholly  without  their  in- 
terest. 

Success  is  never  without  claimants  to  its  paternity,  and  our  cause 
has  had  many  supposed  fathers.  The  existence,  however,  in  our  midst, 
of  a race  that  was  to  remain  forever  a distinct  one,  must,  at  an  early 
day,  have  suggested  to  many  the  idea  of  separation ; and  taking  into 
view  all  the  circumstances,  with  the  idea  of  separation,  Africa  naturally 
presented  itself.  In  1773  the  Reverend  Doctor  Hopkins  of  Rhode 
Island  proposed  to  educate  two  colored  youths  and  send  them  there  as 
missionaries,  when  his  friend,  Dr.  Stiles,  suggested  that  some  thirty  or 
forty  suitable  persons  of  the  same  color  should  accompany  them  and 
make  a settlement  on  the  Gold  coast  under  the  general  direction  of  a 
society  in  America.  The  settlers  were  to  be  employed  in  agricultural, 
mechanical  and  commercial  pursuits.  This  certainly  was  the  germ  of 
African  colonization.  Nothing  came  of  it,  however.  The  muttering 
thunder  of  the  coming  Revolution  drowned  all  thought  save  that  of  In- 
dependence. Neither  did  anything  come  of  Dr.  Thornton’s  idea  of 
taking  a company  of  free  blacks  to  Africa  in  1787  and  founding  a col- 
ony; nor  was  anything  more  heard  of  African  colonization  until  1793, 
when  Dr.  Hopkins,  elaborating  the  plan  of  Dr.  Stiles,  published  a ser- 
mon that  he  had  preached  before  the  Connecticut  Emancipation  Society, 


4 


with  an  appendix,  that  advocated  just  such  a plan  as  has  since  been 
adopted  by  the  American  Colonization  Society.  Neither  did  anything 
ccme  of  this.  The  fulness  of  time  had  not  arrived ; nor  was  it  until 
1815,  forty-two  years  after  Doctors  Hopkins  and  Stiles  had  originated 
the  idea,  that  it  assumed  a practical  shape.  In  this  year,  Paul  Cuffee, 
a colored  man  of  Massachusetts,  who  probably  had  heard  of  it,  carried 
in  his  own  vessel,  commanded  by  himself,  at  a cost  of  $4,000  paid  by 
himself,  forty  of  his  people  from  Boston  to  the  English  settlement  of 
Sierra  Leone,  placed  them  in  charge  of  a society  that  he  had  been  in- 
strumental in  forming  on  a previous  voyage,  and  returning  to  the  Unit- 
ed States  died  in  the  following  year.  Born  in  New  Bedford,  in  1759,  in 
poverty  and  obscurity,  he  had  won  wealth  and  respectability  by  indus- 
try, intelligence  and  integrity,  and  •‘moved,”  as  he  said,  “by  a desire 
to  raise  his  brethren  in  the  United  States  to  civil  and  religious  liberty 
in  the  land  of  their  forefathers,”  had  thus  taken  the  initiative  in  prac- 
tical colonization.  In  the  rushing  currents  of  events,  the  humbler  indi- 
viduals who  have  added  to  the  volume  or  influenced  the  direction  of 
the  stream  are  often  overwhelmed  and  lost  sight  of.  So  it  has  been 
with  Paul  Cuffee.  But  his  name  should  never  be  omitted  in  even  the 
briefest  history  of  African  colonization. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Africa  was  the  only  place 
thought  of  along  with  the  idea  of  a separation  of  the  two  races.  “ The 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  settlements  in  South  America,”  “ a suitable 
territory  in  Louisiana,”  and  “the  vast  territory,”  as  it  was  then  called, 
“between  the  Ohio  river  and  the  great  lakes,”  were  successively  dis- 
cussed, as  places  to  which  the  Negro  race  in  America,  as  it  became  free, 
might  advantageously  emigrate.  At  a meeting  at  which  the  last  named 
found  advocates,  a person  present  is  reported  to  have  said,  “Whether 
any  of  us  will  live  to  see  it  or  not,  the  time  will  come  when  white  men 
will  want  all  that  region,  will  have  it,  and  our  colony  will  be  over- 
whelmed by  them.”  It  would  seem,  just  now,  that  we  are  about  to 
test  the  truth  of  this  utterance  of  seventy  years  ago.  Notwithstanding 
all  this  difference  of  opinion,  however,  the  public  mind  clirystallized 
at  last  upon  Africa  as  the  best  location  for  the  proposed  colony. 

Paul  Cuffee  died  in  1816,  and  in  Dec  ember  of  the  same  year  the 
American  Colonization  Society  was  organized.  Foremost  among  its 
founders  was  Robert  Finley  of  New  Jersey.  In  season  and  out  of  sea- 
son he  toiled  in  its  behalf.  He  declared  that  he  knew  the  scheme  was 
from  God  ; and  with  this  conviction  to  sustain  him  he  imbued  numbers 
with  an  equal  enthusiasm.  Finley,  however,  soon  found  that  it  was 
one  thing  to  applaud  his  zeal  and  admit  the  expediency  of  his  i Ians, 
and  a very  different  thing  to  take  active  measures  to  promote:  them; 
and  there  is  no  telling  whether  Finley  himself  might  not  hace  become 
discouraged,  had  not  Charles  Marsh,  a member  of  Congress  fiom  Ver- 


5 


raont,  come  to  his  assistance.  The  plan,  Marsh  said,  was  too  good  and 
noble  to  be  permitted  to  fail ; and  it  is  owing  to  what  has  been  called 
his  “inexhaustible  adroitness  and  persistency”  that  a preliminary 
meeting  was  held,  with  Henry  Clay  as  chairman.  Elias  B.  Caldwell, 
Finley’s  brother-in-law,  and  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  the  chief 
speaker;  Robert  Wright,  of  Maryland,  submitted  a constitution,  which 
was  adopted;  and  at  the  first  meeting  under  it,  Mr.  Justice  Bushrod 
Washington  was  elected  President.  In  this  way  the  American  Coloniz- 
ation Society  came  into  existence,  forty-three  years  after  Dr.  Hopkins 
and  his  friend,  Dr.  Stiles,  had  suggested  the  idea.  They,  it  is  true,  had 
regarded  it  as  a missionary  enterprise  only.  There  were  others,  how- 
ever, who  hoped  that  it  would  lead  to  a separation  of  the  Negroes  from 
what  the  masters  said  was  an  injurious  contact  with  their  slaves.  Oth- 
ers, like  Paul  CufEee,  who  believed  that  it  would  tend  to  raise  the  Ne- 
groes in  the  United  States  to  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  the  land  of 
their  forefathers.  Others  again  supported  it  as  likely  to  promote  eman- 
cipation. Others,  who  looked  forward  to  the  commerce  that  would 
follow  the  establishment  of  a colony  on  the  borders  of  a vast  continent, 
which  would  be  a virgin  market  for  the  products  of  manufacturing  civil- 
ization ; and  others  again  who  fancied  that,  in  some  undefined  way, 
African  colonization  would  afford  a solution  of  the  negro  question  in 
this  country.  And  it  was  well  that  all  this  was  so.  Co-operation,  re- 
gardless of  motive,  was  the  necessity  of  the  occasion.  However  varied 
the  views  of  the  friends  of  the  Society  respectively,  all  were  agreed 
upon  the  establishment  of  a colony  to  which  the  free  people  of  color 
might  emigrate,  when  they  believed  they  would  better  their  condition 
by  seeking  a new  home  beyond  the  sea ; and  Liberia  stands  to  the  credit 
of  them  all. 

The  Society  having  been  organized,  a site  for  the  settlement  was 
to  be  selected ; and  for  this  purpose  Mills  and  Burgess  were  sent  to 
Africa  in  1818,  and  fixed  upon  Sherbro  Island,  not  far  from  Sierra  Le- 
one . To  this  place  the  Reverend  Samuel  Bacon,  an  Episcopal  clergy- 
man, led  the  first  expedition  in  the  ship  Elisabeth , in  1820.  The  vessel 
had  been  chartered  by  the  United  States  under  the  following  circum- 
stances. Congress  had  made  it  penal  to  import  slaves  after  the 
year  1807,  and  in  1818  had  increased  the  penalty.  A law  as  then  passed, 
Oct.  3,  1819,  of  which  Charles  Fenton  Mercer,  of  Yirginia,  was  the  au- 
thor, which  provided  that  slaves  illegally  imported,  or  taken  at  sea, 
should  be  held  in  the  custody  of  the  United  States  until  removed  from 
the  country ; and  the  President  was  authorized  to  appoint  an  agent  to 
take  care  of  them.  Mr.  Monroe,  then  President,  saw  at  once,  that  by 
co-operating  with  the  American  Colonizotion  Society,  the  design  of 
the  law  might  be  carried  out,  both  equitably  and  economically;  and 
he  appointed  Mr.  Bacon,  along  with  Mr.  John  P.  Baukson,  of  Phila- 


6 


delphia,  as  agents  of  the  Government,  placing  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ba- 
con sufficient  funds  out  of  monies  appropriated  by  Congress  under  the 
act  of  1819.  The  Elizabeth  took  out  eighty-six  emigrants  from  the 
United  States,  who  in  consideration  of  their  passage  and  other  aid,  were 
to  prepare  suitable  accommodations  for  such  Africans  as  might  be  res- 
cued from  the  slave-ships  by  American  cruisers.  In  this  way,  strange 
as  it  seems,  it  was  to  the  slave-trade,  which  it  was  to  aid  in  extirpating, 
that  the  American  Colonization  Society  became  indebted,  through  the 
wise  course  of  President  Monroe,  for  its  first  feeble  foothold  on  the 
continent  of  Africa. 

The  undertaking  had,  notwithstanding  the  aid  derived  from  the 
United  States,  a most  unfortunate  beginning.  Mills  had  died  on 
his  way  back  to  America,  and  Bacon,  dying  in  Africa,  was  among 
the  first  martyrs  to  the  cause  buried  there  under  its  palms.  Of 
four  agents  sent  out  in  1821,  two  died  on  the  coast,  and  two  returned 
sick  to  the  United  States.  Sherbro  Island  was  found  to  be  unhealthy 
and  was  abandoned ; and  the  survivors  of  the  Elizabeth's  emigrants 
returned  disheartened  to  Sierra  Leone. 

In  November,  1820,  the  President  dispatched  the  armed  schooner, 
Alligator , Captain  R.  F.  Stockton,  of  New  Jersey,  on  a voyage  of  ex- 
ploration to  the  coast.  Here,  in  the  following  year,  1821,  he  fell  iu 
with  Dr.  Eli  Ayres,  an  agent  of  the  Society,  and  taking  him  on  board, 
proceeded  southerly,  and  after  passing  Sherbro  Island,  selected,  in  con- 
junction with  Dr.  Ayres,  a suitable  territory  250  miles  from  Sierra  Le- 
one, including  Cape  Mesurado.  This  was  a bold  promontory  on 
the  east  side  of  a river  of  the  same  name.  To  this  new  site  Dr. 
Ayres  now  removed  the  remnant  of  the  Elizabeth's  emigrants,  landing 
them  on  an  island  separated  from  the  main  land  by  a narrow  creek  that 
extended  from  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mesurado  river  to  the  St.  Paul’s. 
Very  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  emigrants,  the  native  chiefs  opened 
their  eyes  to  the  probability  of  their  interference  with  the  slave  trade 
which  had  long  prevailed  in  the  neighborhood,  and,  regardless  of  the 
treaty,  determined  to  destroy  the  settlement  if  they  could . The  tem- 
porary dwellings,  that  had  been  slightly  and  hastily  put  up,  were  con- 
sumed by  fire.  On  the  heel  of  this  came  African  fever : and  so  untoward 
were  circumstances,  that  Dr.  Ayres,  almost  in  despair,  returned  with 
some  of  the  colonists  to  Sierra  Leone.  Wiltberger,  another  of  the  So- 
ciety’s agents,  remained  however;  battled  with  the  natives,  and  aban- 
doning the  island,  crossed  the  Mesurado  river  to  the  adjacent  cape; 
cleared  away  the  forest  to  make  room  for  new'-liuts  in  a healthier  location ; 
completed  and  occupied  them,  and  in  this  way,  in  June  1822,  laid  the 
corner-stone  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia  on  the  spot  where  its  capital  now 
stands.  Dr.  Ayers  and  Wiltberger  then  returned  home,  and  the  settle- 
ment was  left  in  charge  of  Elijah  Johnson,  an  emigrant,  who  had  refused 


7 


to  follow  Dr.  Ayres  to  the  British  colony.  “ No,”  he  said ; “ I have  been 
two  years  searching  for  a home,  and  I have  found  it,  and  I shall  stay  here 
and  when  he  was  afterwards  surrounded  by  hostile  and  threatening 
bodies  of  natives,  and  was  offered  the  protection  of  a guard  of  marines 
from  a passing  British  vessel  of  war  if  he  would  cede  a few  feet  of 
ground  on  which  to  plant  a flagstaff  for  a British  flag,  he  refused  the 
proffered  aid,  saying,  “We  want  no  flagstaff  put  up  here  that  will  cost 
more  to  get  it  down  than  it  will  cost  to  whip  the  natives.”  Johnson 
was  another  man  of  the  Paul  Cuffee  stamp,  whose  name  cannot  be  omit- 
ted from  a notice  of  Liberia,  however  brief.  Slender  was  the  hold 
which  colonization  and  religion  had  upon  this  portion  of  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent ; and  save  for  the  construction  that  Mr.  Monroe  had  given  to  the 
law  of  1819,  even  this  hold  might  never  have  been  obtained,  or  have 
been  indefinitely  delayed. 

The  first  arrival  at  Cape  Mesurado  after  the  departure  of  Wiltberger 
was  a vessel  from  Baltimore  with  fifty-one  emigrants,  a part  of  whom 
were  recaptured  Africans,  in  August,  1822.  It  was  in  charge  of  Jehudi 
Ashmun,  Priest,  Soldier  and  Statesman . He  had  intended  to  return  to 
the  United  States  by  the  same  vessel;  but  Africa  needed  him  more  than 
America,  and  he  remained.  Ashmun’s  mission  was  one  of  peace,  and 
he  exhausted  every  effort  in  striving  to  preserve  it;  but  in  vain.  Boat- 
swain, a powerful  native  chief  from  the  interior,  and  a friend  of  the 
colonists  from  the  beginning,  had  left  the  coast,  where  his  presence  had 
restrained  their  enemies,  and  hostilities  commenced  at  once.  All  sup- 
plies of  provisions  were  cut  off,  and  theft  and  depredation  were  the 
order  of  the  day.  The  native  chiefs,  the  very  ones  who  had  sold  the 
land,  would  listen  to  no  terms  of  accommodation.  With  Ashmun  it 
was  now  battle  or  famine  unto  death,  with  the  greatest  doubts  as  to  the 
result.  Then,  the  Christian  minister  became  a military  leader.  He 
planned  fortifications ; he  mounted  cannon ; he  distributed  ammunition ; 
he  posted  picket  guards ; and,  above  all,  he  inspired  his  twenty-seven 
Americans  and  thirteen  African  youths  with  his  own  intrepid  spirit. 
On  the  24th  of  August  twelve  of  his  men  were  stricken  down  by  fever, 
at  a time  when  it  was  necessary  to  have  twenty  sentinels  on  guard,  day 
and  night.  At  the  end  of  three  weeks  of  constant  watchfulness,  Ash- 
mun himself  was  prostrated  by  disease.  His  wife,  too,  who  had  accom- 
panied him  from  America,  was  dangerously  ill.  On. the  10th  of  Sep- 
tember, only  two  of  the  late  arrivals  were  fit  for  duty.  And  yet,  there 
could  be  no  relaxation  of  vigilance,  the  alternative  of  which  was  death. 
After  a night  of  fever  and  delirium,  morning  would  find  the  agent  su- 
perintending the  stockades,  or  clearing  away  the  forest  in  front  of  his 
few  pieces  of  artillery.  In  this  way,  sometimes  better,  sometimes  worse 
in  health,  Ashmun  lived  until  the  11th  of  November,  when  eight  hun- 
dred natives  made  a concentrated  attack  on  his  most  outlying  stock- 


8 


ade,  carried  it,  and  had  they  not  stopped  to  plunder  some  adjacent 
huts,  could  have  swept  the  settlement  by  one  determined  rush  into  the 
sea.  Danger  so  imminent  was  a tonic  that  not  even  African  fever  could 
withstand.  Ashmun  rallied  the  men  retreating  from  the  stockade, 
brought  a canon  to  bear  upon  the  plunderers,  headed  a charge  as  they 
hesitated,  panic  stricken  by  the  lire — re-took  the  stockade — drove  the 
natives  to  the  cover  of  the  forest,  and  the  colony  was  saved. 

On  the  30th  of  November  there  was  another  attack,  thrice  renewed 
and  as  often  repulsed,  during  which  Ashmun  had  three  bullets  through 
his  clothes,  but  escaped  unhurt.  This  terminated  the  war.  It  was  the 
first  and  last  that  ever  threatened  the  existence  of  Liberia.  An  English 
schooner,  passing  Cape  Mesurado,  had  been  attracted  by  the  firing. 
Laing,  the  African  traveler,  happened  to  be  on  board ; and  through  his 
intervention  a treaty  of  peace  was  made  with  the  native  chiefs, 
which,  in  the  main,  has  not  been  disturbed.  Each  succeeding 
year,  however,  strengthened  the  colony  with  emigrants  from 
the  United  States.  The  first  arrival  was  accompanied  by  Dr.  Ayres, 
who,  displacing  Ashmun,  had  the  town  of  Monrovia  laid  out,  and  the 
land  adjacent  surveyed  and  distributed  among  the  colonists.  He  was 
then,  again,  seized  with  African  fever,  and  returned  to  the  United 
States.  His  departure  left  the  colony  in  confusion;  when  Ashman, 
overcoming  his  mortification  at  having  been  superseded  by  Dr.  Ayres, 
assumed  the  charge  of  affairs,  restored  order  by  his  firm  and  decided 
measures,  and  remained  until  prostrated  by  disease,  when,  with  but  the 
faintest  hope  of  saving  his  life  he  sailed  for  the  Cape  de  Verde,  leaving 
the  colony  in  the  charge  of  Elijah  Johnson,  who  has  been  already  men- 
tioned. At  the  Cape  de  Verde  Ashmun  found  the  Rev.  R.  R.  Garley  on 
his  way  to  Monrovia,  with  full  power  from  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment and  the  Society  to  examine  into  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  to 
establish  some  form  of  government.  As  soon  as  Asbmun’s  health  per- 
mitted, he  returned  with  Mr.  Gurley  to  the  colony;  when  the  two  pre- 
pared a constitution,  republican  in  form,  which  was  submitted  to  the 
people  in  the  first  rude  house  of  worship  erected  in  Liberia.  Here  it 
was  adopted ; and  all  present  pledged  themselves  solemnly  before  God 
to  support  it:  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  law  and  order  in  the  col- 
ony. Mr.  Gurley  now  returned  to  the  United  States,  in  August,  1824, 
leaving  the  government  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ashmun. 

At  this  time  the  slave  trade  was  active  within  sight  of  Monrovia. 
Fifteen  vessels  were  engaged  in  it  under  the  guns  almost  of  the  colony, 
and  there  was  a contract  between  a slave-trader  and  a native  chief  by 
which  800  slaves  were  to  be  furnished  within  four  months  at  a place 
only  eight  miles  from  the  Cape.  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  1822,  had  been  on  the 
defensive.  He  now  assumed  the  offensive  in  the  cause  of  humanity. 
A Spanish  slaver  had  committed  a flagrant  act  of  piracy  on  an  English 


brig  lying  off  Monrovia;  and  the  agent  determined  to  punish  it.  The 
brig  was  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  embarking  with  fifty-four  men, 
then  his  entire  military  force,  he  landed  at  the  slave  factory,  released 
the  slaves  he  found  there,  and,  with  the  prestige  thus  obtained,  suc- 
ceeded in  making  a treaty  with  the  native  chief,  which  broke  up  the 
slave  trade  at  that  place  forever.  The  destruction  of  the  slave  facto- 
ries at  Tradetown  followed.  Here  he  was  assisted  by  two  Colombian 
vessels  of  war  which  happened  to  be  on  the  coast.  These  exploits 
of  the  agent  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  did  more  towards 
the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  north  of  the  Bight  of  Benin,  than  the 
presence  of  English  and  American  cruisers  for  years  had  been  able  to 
accomplish.  A fast  sailing  vessel  filled  with  slaves  might  run  with 
safety  a blockading  fleet ; but  when  the  barracoons  that  supplied  the 
cargo  were  destroyed,  the  trade  at  that  factory  was  at  an  end. 

For  five  years  Mr.  Aslimun  continued  to  be  the  agent  of  the  Society 
in  Liberia,  ever  battling  with  disease,  and  until  the  25th  of  March, 
1828;  when,  accompanied  to  the  beach  by  the  inhabitants  of  Monrovia, 
in  tears,  he  left  Africa  never  to  return.  On  the  10th  of  August,  after  a 
brief  delay  in  the  West  Indies,  he  landed  in  New  Haven,  and  died 
there  on  the  25th,  a victim  to  his  labors  in  the  cause  of  African  coloniz- 
ation,— its  Hero  and  its  Martyr. 

Since  1828,  the  Society  has  been  so  prominent,  and  the  press  has 
kept  the  public  so  well  informed  of  events  in  Liberia,  that  it  is  enough 
to  say  now,  that  the  expectations  of  the  founders  have  been  realized  in 
the  establishment  of  a Republic,  where  the  slave  trade  once  reigned  su- 
preme ; with  institutions  modelled  after  our  own ; with  a government 
well  administered  and  recognized  by  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world; 
with  a commerce  steadily  increasing;  with  a coast  line  extending 
from  the  English  colony  of  Sierra  Leone  to  the  Cavalla  river  east  of 
Cape  Palmas,  and  offering  to  intelligence  and  industry  a home,  where, 
in  the  land  of  their  forefathers,  the  colored  men  of  America  may  strive 
for  and  obtain  all  the  rewards  of  honorable  ambition.  That  Liberia 
will,  one  day,  count  its  p pulation  by  millions  instead,  as  now,  by  thou- 
sands, we  believe  to  be  as  certain  as  Destiny. 

The  eyes  of  the  world  may  be  said  to  be  fixed  upon  Africa  to-day. 
England,  at  the  south,  is  extending  her  many  arms  northward  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  England  and  France  take  charge  of  the  Khedive 
on  the  north.  The  King  of  Belgium  sends  exploring  expeditions  from 
Zanzibar  on  the  east,  and  English,  Portuguese  and  Dutch  traders,  on  the 
west,  cluster  around  the  mouth  of  the  Livingstone  at  Embomma.  All 
are  striving  for  the  trade  of  Africa,  and  value  its  civilization  only  as  a 
means  of  improving  the  markets  that  this  continent  affords  for  the  sur- 
plus products  of  the  forge  and  loom.  Far  nobler  than  all  that  has  been 
effected  by  king  or  trader  is  the  work  of  this  Society,  which,  apart 


id 


from  its  effect  upon  our  colored  population,  and  regarding  it  only  in 
its  missionary  aspect,  has  furnished  a nation  for  the  task  that  no  other 
human  agency  is  competent  to  accomplish — the  task  of  civilizing  as 
well  as  Christianizing  a mighty  continent, — a nation,  which,  increasing 
in  numbers  by  immigration,  just  as  Plymouth  and  Jamestown  increased 
of  old,  will  do  for  Africa  what  the  Pilgrims  north  and  south  have  done 
for  us,  and  until  the  Dark  Continent  shall  be  dark  no  longer. 

So  much  for  the  past  history  of  the  Society  and  Liberia;  a few 
words  now  in  regard  to  their  relations  to  the  future. 

Colonizationists,  as  a rule,  have  believed  that  two  distinct  races, 
that  cannot  or  will  not  amalgamate  by  intermarriage,  can  live  in  the 
same  land  in  but  one  of  two  relations — master  and  slave,  or  oppressor 
and  oppressed.  The  first  is  out  of  the  question,  for  slavery  is  at  an  end, 
here,  forever.  How  stands  it  then  with  the  latter  alternative  ? Can 
there  be  any  oppression  now  when  the  two  races  occupy  the  same  level, 
before  the  law  ? There  could  be  none,  if  Constitutional  amendments 
and  Acts  of  Congress  sufficed  to  overcome  the  prejudices  and  the  influ- 
ences of  Caste.  To  this  extent  they  are  absolutely  powerless.  The  oppres- 
sion of  law  which  made  the  Negro  a slave  no  longer  exists.  He  may  be, 
as  he  has  been,  a Senator  or  a Representative ; but  the  oppression  of 
circumstances  is  as  potent  to-day  as  it  was  an  hundred  years  ago.  The 
slave  question  has  been  settled,  but  the  Negro  question  is  still  an  open 
one. 

During  the  late  war,  few  emigrants  went  to  Liberia ; and  when  it 
closed  many  supposed  that  the  American  Colonization  Society  must  die ; 
and  there  were  those,  among  its  friends  even,  who  stood  ready  to  inter 
it,  with  a laudatory  epitaph  upon  its  tomb.  And  yet  the  emigration  that 
followed  the  war  was  greater  than  had  ever  taken  place  in  the  same 
number  of  years  before:  and  now  there  are  applications  representing 
200,000  begging  the  Society  for  transportation  to  Africa;  and  this,  too, 
where  for  years  the  Society  has  had  no  agent  in  the  field  whence  the 
applications  come . Circumstances  are  doing  their  work.  To  under- 
stand them  in  detail,  it  is  only  necessary  to  read  the  publications  ex- 
plaining the  motives  of  those  who  led  in  the  late  exodus  movement  in 
South  Carolina,  or  in  the  later  exodus  from  the  southern  States  to  Kansas. 
All  are  connected  more  or  less  directly  with  the  distinctions  of  Caste 
that  operate  oppression.  Colonizationists  believe  that  the  more  educa- 
tion refines  the  Negro  and  increases  his  sensibilities,  the  more  irksome 
will  become  his  position  where  the  distinctions  of  race  exclude  him 
socially  from  what  cannot  but  be  the  aim  of  his  ambition.  When  it  is 
found,  as  the  generations  pass,  that  neither  wealth  nor  scholarship  nor 
accomplishments,  however  varied,  overcome  the  prejudices  that  cause 
social  exclusion,  these  very  incidents  may  prompt  the  emigration  of  the 
educated  and  ambitious  to  seek  a land  where  the  white  man  will  be  to 


11 


them  what  they  are  to  the  white  man  here.  This  is  looking  forward 
through  a vista  of  many  a generation,  perhaps, — but  that  it  will  come 
to  pass,  became,  as  we  fully  believe,  assured  when  Willberger  trans- 
ferred the  Elizabeth  emigrants  from  Bushrod  Island  to  the  main,  and 
when  Aslimun  with  a handful  of  sick  and  toil-worn  men,  made  a host 
by  a blessing  from  on  High,  repulsed  the  barbarians  who  would  have 
extinguished  the  feeble  light  which  has  gone  on  increasing  in  bright- 
ness ever  since,  and  which  will  one  day  pervade  the  land  now  in  the 
shadow  of  death. 

If  these  views  are  looked  upon  as  visionary,  it  should  be  remember- 
ed how  small  were  our  own  beginnings:  and  although  it  may  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  Pilgrims  by  the  Mayflower  were  socially  and  intellectu- 
ally superior  to  those  who  landed  from  the  Elizabeth , yet  the  capacity 
for  improvement  and  self-government  that  has  been  developed  in  Libe- 
ria and  illustrated  in  America  in  a thousand  instances  of  learning,  in- 
telligence and  refinement,  fully  justify  the  anticipations  of  colonization- 
ists.  And  when  a prosperous  and  happy  people  shall  have  made  Liberia 
as  attractive  to  the  colored  man  as  America  is  to  the  European  emi- 
grant; when  commerce  shall  have  bridged  the  Atlantic  for  an  eastward, 
as  it  has  for  a westward  march  of  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands; 
when  gold,  already  within  reach  from  Monrovia,  will  do  for  Liberia 
what  gold  did  for  California  in  attracting  emigration ; when  ambition 
shall  find  across  the  sea,  away  from  the  influences  of  caste,  the  widest 
field  for  its  exercise, — then  will  the  Negro  question  be  settled;  not  as 
was  the  question  of  slavery,  by  war  and  its  attendant  misery,  but  by  the 
peaceful  operation  of  causes  that  are  inevitable;  and  then  it  will  be 
seen  that  even  so  great  a wrong  as  slavery  may  have  had,  in  the  order 
of  God’s  providence,  its  accompanying  good  in  the  education  of  a mis- 
sionary nation,  with  a continent  for  the  field  of  its  operation.  And 
■when  that  time  comes,  the  historian  of  then  regenerated  Africa  will  find 
among  the  sources  of  her  light  and  liberty  the  labors  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society. 

On  the  return  of  Dr.  Ayres  to  the  United  States,  a map  of  the  territory  acquired  by 
Commander  Stockton  and  himself  was  made  from  his  description,  and  Gen.  Robert 
Goodloe  Harper  one  of  the  warmest  and  ablest  among  the  friends  of  colonization, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  map  maker, wrote  on  the  engraver’s  proof-sheet  the  names 
that  have  since  been  adopted.  The  Latin  word  Liber , a free  man.  suggested  the  name 
of  the  territory;  Mr.  Monroe's  invaluable  aid  was  recognized  in  that  of  the  then  very 
humble  capital.  Bushrod  Island,  where  the  first  settlers  landed,  was  called  after  the 
President  of  the  Society,  and  Stockton  creek  and  Ayres  creek  completed  a nomenclat- 
ure that  has  since  become  familiar.  The  rivers  St.  Paul’s  and  Mesurado,  and  the  cape 
of  that  name  on  which  Monrovia  stands,  were  permitted  to  retain  the  names  by  which 
they  were  already  designated  on  the  map:  of  Africa.  The  map  maker  of  Liberia,  here 
referred  to,  is  the  present  President  of  the  Society. 


